Buying and Selling Forums

[Nomad]

I have once bought a forum and I have also sold a form once. Have you tried buying and selling forums? Did you spend a lot of money when you bought the forum? Did you make a lot of money by selling forum. I spent just about $70 to buy a forum. But when I sold my forums, I sold it for $600 (it was not the forum I bought).

 

[Shortie]

As much as I have had forums in the past and I still have forums now, I have never sold a forum in the past.

If the opportunity arose though and I had the chance to sell a forum I had, I would consider it for the right price.

 

[Maria]

I have never bought or sold a forum, however, I have seen a lot of people buying and selling forums. Even the admin of our beloved forum FE acquired two forums and merged with this one. I think it can be a profitable venture.

 

[joelr]

When you buy a forum, it's not about spending a lot of money. It's about a fair valuation of the forum, which can be very hard when it's not monetized.

When it's monetized, the calculation is easy. You normally pay for 2 - 3 years of net revenue, which is the proper method for online businesses.

When it's not monetized, the calculation is much harder. It's usually a hazy compromise

 

[Nomad]

The one that I sold was monetized, so it was easier for me to set a price. The one I bought was also monetized but the earning was very small so setting a price based on revenue was very difficult. I decided to price based on the number of content and the quality of the content. The price of a forum also depends on how much you can rope in.

 

[Dilip]

Most buyers judge a forum by revenue generated or activity. That's the practical side of it. People spend money to win it back. So there should be metrics that support this act.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I never sold or purchased a forum before. I don't have the money to purchase forums, and I don't really want to sell any of my current ones. Most people look at activity or if it's a legacy community that's old, then more people might want to buy it. If you just made a forum and are looking to sell it, I doubt anyone would pay for it.

 

[Cory]

I've never bought or sold a forum. I couldn't have sold any of my old forums anyway because they were all on free services that were not self-hosted. As for buying a forum, I'd rather start from scratch than buy a forum.

 

[Nomad]

Starting a forum from scratch is certainly nice because you will be tending your own baby. However, if you have funds buying a functional forum can also help quickly started. You can even start earning immediately by monetizing it. Starting from zero and building members and activities take a long time